Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.
What: Shares of media and Internet company IAC/InterActive (IACI +0.00%) plunged 13% today after its quarterly revenue disappointed Wall Street.
So what: IAC's third-quarter adjusted earnings per share jumped a whopping 82%, but a wide miss on the top line -- revenue of $756.87 million versus the consensus of $805.27 million -- is reigniting worries over slowing growth going forward. Google's recent monetization algorithm changes seem to be weighing heavily on IAC's search and applications segment, suggesting the business model is tied much more closely to the search giant's whims than analysts had expected.
Now what: Management said it is already recovering from Google's price hike. "We're confident we'll grow the business from here," CEO Greg Blatt reassured analysts on a conference call. "The rollout from this change ended in early October, and as we've rapidly adjusted our systems to the new pricing model, we've already seen growth resuming." With the stock still well off its 52-week lows and trading at a 20-plus P/E, however, I'd wait for a wider margin of safety before buying into that confidence.
